Brian Britson not only took over the lead position at Amgen Rhode Island in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic in August 2020, but the multinational biopharmaceutical company was in the middle of building a 120,000-foot-square “next-generation” biomanufacturing factory on its West Greenwich campus.
Talk about a high level of difficulty.
But it appears Britson and Amgen have handled the simultaneous challenges smoothly.
The $200 million plant, the first of its kind in the U.S., is complete and nearly ready to add to the capabilities of Amgen’s West Greenwich location, where the company produces the arthritis drug Enbrel and other biologic medications. The company has already hired more than 150 people to staff the new plant.
It’s an illustration of the growing role Amgen Inc., based in Thousand Oaks, Calif., has played in the Rhode Island economy since first arriving in 2005. It employs more than 900 people in West Greenwich. The company was offered millions of dollars’ worth of tax credits to build the new factory here, but the state estimated that the payoff in tax revenue would far outweigh the incentives.
Enter Britson, who succeeded Thomas Seewoester in August 2020. Britson had previously served as plant manager in biologics manufacturing at Amgen Singapore.
So far, Britson has seemed to have not skipped a beat. The company, which has garnered numerous Providence Business News awards over the years, was recognized by PBN in March for overall excellence for an enterprise manufacturer. It was also named one of Rhode Island’s Best Places to Work in June.